Stolen Coat Jazz Band
It started late in the autumn of 2010, at a cold night and in the middle of a sales conference, a group of workmates decided to take the plunge and go on stage to perform a catchy song as part of a friendly contest in front of 2000 people. Sadly, not only did they not win the contest, but the piano player’s coat was stolen during the night. Another unknown thief in the world had pilfered and another band was born!.
Six people, Anja, Jan, Michelle, Natasha, Saverio and Tamas, decided to gather every week after work to play jazz and leave the stress of the day behind. Everybody brought different experiences, ideas and passions to form an eclectic gathering that went beyond countries and cultural differences: Anja, with her stylish piano skills, Jan with his groovy bass lines, Michelle and Natasha with their passionate singing, Saverio with his jazzy flute up and down the “blue notes”, Tamas, with his clean and hearty guitar (and drums and piano as well).
Sessions were fun, they became a space to press the pause button on work and to press play on music instead. The repertoire grew and when the cd idea was brought on the table, it still looked like a very tough challenge. However, there you are, a compilation of jazz and pop-rock songs recorded in the last 2 and half years! The demo pieces are the straight recordings of those sessions, where laughter and joy were the main components, while the more professional ones are Tamas’ indestructible commitment to chase, record and put everything together.
Hope the music will put a smile on your face, enjoy!
Choose a number to listen our songs!
Chicken
Recording session: September 2012
Saverio Zuppani: flute
Tamas Illes: guitar & keys
Jan Rous: bass
Frederich Alesh: piano
Michele Scala: drums
'Chicken' was Jan's song, he pitched the idea of playing/recording this funky song on several occassions during our time in Dublin. This song features two guests musicians: Michele on drums and Frederich on piano. With this line up, we only played this song twice, the second one was the actual recording. It is also interesting how we got Michele to do the drumming for us. In fact, we didn't... He just walked outside the rehearsal room, heard the song, came in, set down at the drums and jammed along with us.
At Last
Recording session: January 2013
Natasha Sachs: vocals
Anja Kuncic: piano
Andrea Clausen: trumpet
'At Last' is a signature song of Natasha Sachs that shows the beauty of her sweet, silvery voice to a full extent. I remember a special feeling slowly coming over us after the last take was over. "We have managed to capture something special here" we all thought and she just stood there smiling happily. This special moment craved for a special instrument in the songs and so we posted an ad for looking for a trumpet player. And luckily, Andrea came along.
Make You Feel My Love
Recordings took place between November 2010 and December 2012
Michelle Beirne: vocals
Adam Engelhardt: vocals
Tamas Illes: piano + keys
Jan Rous: bass
Michele Scala: drums
Kieran Doyle: saxophone
'Make you feel my love' took 2 years to come together. Tamas had this crazy idea of creating a version which is not like Adele's and is different from Bob Dylan's original as well. The idea of re-writing the song as a duet came to him early on, still, we had about 5 different versions of the song before we settled with the final one embracing a saxophone solo in the middle.
The Girl from Ipanema
Recordings took place between July 2011 - February 2013
Natasha Sachs: vocals
Saverio Zuppani: flute
Tamas Illes: piano + drums
Jan Rous: double-bass
'The Girl from Ipanema' was one of the first songs we recorded together as a jazz band, along with Autum leaves. The first recording session took place at the back of Earth Cafe with Tamas on the piano. This is clearly Tamas' song, his own arrangement and he also tries his best on the drums that were added almost a year later to the mix. We auditioned 5 ladies for vocals, recorded with 3 of them. Natasha was the last to apply, but her version was the only one we eventually kept. Her vocal overdubbing took place at a crazy hour of 8:30 a.m. on a Friday morning and still ... she nailed this song amazingly.
Mambo Influenciadio
Recording session: November, 2012
Anja Kuncic: piano
Saverio Zuppani: flute
Tamas Illes: guitar + drums&percussion
Jan Rous: double-bass
'Mambo Influenciado' is Chucho Valdes' song with a tasteful Cuban rhythm that is pretty hard to follow unless you were brought up in Cuba. We started practicing this based on Saverio's request and well...this is Stolen Coat's best attempt at rendering this iconic song. It is important to highlight that Saverio needed only one take for his flute solo part, still he delivered an amazingly complex and fast melody. His performance is nicely accompanied by Anja's classy piano playing and Jan's fretless bass groove.
Summertime
Recordings took place between December 2012 - February 2013
Michelle Beirne: vocals
Anja Kuncic: piano
Saverio Zuppani: flute
Tamas Illes: guitar + drums&percussion
Jan Rous: bass
Summertime is Michelle's iconic song, something she introduced during the very fist rehearsals already. Her beautiful, warm and tender voice fills all the space during the minimalistic guitar-voice only intro. Tamas' arrangement later gradually changes into slow swing, only to be followed by a crazy upbeat finishing, featuring Saverio's dual solo improvisation. Summertime is one of the few songs on the CD that required numerous takes to get the rhythm changes right.
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Recording session: December, 2012
Michelle Beirne: vocals
Tamas Illes: guitar
Tamas' minimalistic arrangement of this well-known Christmas melody was recorded for the 2010 holiday season. Michelle explores the highs and lows of her vocal range in this Christmas classic that she made her own through a number of small deviations from the core of the original melody. Gentle, narrow vibratos and long, sustained notes build up the song on the warm, jazz guitar backing.
I Got Rhythm - demo
Recording session: 2011
Natasha Sachs: vocals
Anja Kuncic: piano
Saverio Zuppani: flute
Jan Rous: bass
Tamas Illes: guitar
The 'Lost & Found' CD contains a number of live recordings from our rehearsal sessions. While these are far from quality recordings, we still really love them as they capture the time and atmosphere of our get togethers that took place every Monday evening. I Got Rhythm was recorded during one of the first rehearsal sessions with Natasha.
At Last - demo
Recording session: 2012
Natasha Sachs: vocals
Anja Kuncic: piano
Saverio Zuppani: flute
Jan Rous: bass
Tamas Illes: guitar
This 7 minute, extended version of 'At Last' showcases heartbreaking vocals, both piano and flute solos and Tamas messing around on some drums.
The Preacher - demo
Recording session: 2012
Saverio Zuppani: flute
Tamas Illes: guitar
This very early stage demo never made it to a full band piece unfortunately. Saverio introduced this song to Tamas who in return wrote a bridge part to the original melody and doubled the speed for the last third of the song. This resulted in a flute solo finishing up the song at close to 180bpm speed. Was this any challenge to Saverio? See it for yourself.